Another St Ann police shooting caught on video

AFTER A policeman shot 43-year-old Orville Wray, he walked back inside the Alexandria Police Station in St Ann, leaving the wounded man slumped and clinging to life.

Wray was then pulled into his brother's black BMW sport utility vehicle (SUV) and carried to hospital where treatment would fail. These details aren't in any police generated report, but found on a video uploaded on to the Internet.

According to the deceased's brother, Rodney Wray, and his lawyer Ernie Smith, the vehicle was chased by police all the way to the hospital.

The police version of events contradicts that told by Wray, but video evidence captured by a resident has given Jamaicans an opportunity to judge for themselves.

Before the incident, the Wray brothers were allegedly involved in a fracas at a bar in the area.

fight at bar

According to the police, Orville Wray injured a man at the bar and was detained at the station when he attempted to escape.

At the start of the YouTube video, which is titled 'Police kill man cold-blooded in Jamaica', Orville Wray is seen walking hurriedly out of the police station. His brother's SUV pulls up and a plain-clothes policeman tries to apprehend the fleeing Orville Wray, who is assisted by his brother and another man. The unnamed man is seen alighting from the black SUV and attacking the policeman in what appears to be an attempt to help Wray into the vehicle. The policeman, however, prevents Wray from leaving, pulling him back towards the station. The ensuing fight includes mostly kicks and fist flinging until a uniformed policeman rushes out of the station. The uniformed policeman joins the scuffle and a shot is fired, silencing everyone present. Shocked residents can be heard on the video exclaiming "police shoot di man, enuh".

According to Smith, who is also member of parliament for South West St Ann, the police statement alleges that Orville Wray was armed with a ratchet knife while Rodney Wray had a piece of iron pipe.

Yesterday, Carlton Wilson, head of the St Ann division of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, said he was off the island and had not seen the video, but could confirm the wounds reported by the police.

The Bureau of Special Investigations is probing the matter.

The video of the May 4 incident comes less than a year after another video of the Buckfield, St Ann, shooting of 27-year-old Ian Lloyd, otherwise called 'Chen-Singh'. Lloyd's August killing sparked outrage as he was shot while on the ground and apparently posed little or no danger to the policemen surrounding him.